Each week as part of SunLit — The Sun’s literature section — we feature staff recommendations from book stores across Colorado. This week, the staff from Out West Books in Grand Junction recommends a fairytale retelling, some historical fiction and a spellbinding tale.
Lady Tremaine
By Rachel HochhauserSt. Martin’s Press$29March 2026Purchase
From the publisher: A breathtaking reimagining of Cinderella, as told through the eyes of its iconic “evil” stepmother, revealing a propulsive love story about the lengths a mother will go to for her children. A widow twice-over, Etheldreda is now saddled with the care of her two children, a priggish stepdaughter, and a razor-taloned peregrine falcon. Her entire life has become a ruse, just like the manor hall they live in: grand and ornate on the exterior, but crumbling, brick by brick, inside. Fierce in the face of her misfortune, Ethel clings to her family’s respectability, the lifeboat that will float her daughters straight into the secure banks of marriage.
As if Bridgerton met Circe, and exhilarating to its core, “Lady Tremaine” reimagines the myth of the evil stepmother at the heart of the world’s most famous fairytale. It is a battle cry for a mother’s love for her daughters, and a celebration of women everywhere who make their own fortunes.
From Didi Herald, bookseller: “Lady Tremaine” is a tale of survival. While it is set in an imagined time and place, it truly reflects women’s lives and some of the difficulties we face, while being vastly entertaining. It also celebrates love and friendship even though once Etheldreda’s beloved was gone, so was what she needed to support her children.
Like mothers do every day, she set out to do what needed to be done to achieve their survival and entered into a marriage that added a step-daughter but unfortunately no means of support. I liked Ethelreda’s appreciation of the three daughter’s uniqueness and the fierceness with which she keeps even the unlikeable Ellen safe and fed. I’ve often heard “life is hard and then you die” but in this woman’s story, life is hard but surround yourself with good people and find love again.
From Marya Johnston, owner: I started reading this book as a manuscript without knowing what it was about. It wasn’t until I was halfway through that I’d discovered it was a take on Cinderella from the stepmother’s point of view. That premise wasn’t hitting me over the head, thank goodness! The prince was NOT charming, which was a breath of fresh air.
Daughter of Egypt
By Marie BenedictSt. Martin’s Press$29March 2026Purchase
From the publisher: In the 1920s, archeologist Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon of Highclere Castle made headlines around the world with the discovery of the treasure-filled tomb of the boy Pharaoh Tutankhamun. But behind it all stood Lady Evelyn Herbert — daughter of Lord Carnarvon — whose daring spirit and relentless curiosity made the momentous find possible.
Nearly 3,000 years earlier, another woman defied the expectations of her time: Hatshepsut, Egypt’s lost pharaoh. Her reign was bold, visionary — and nearly erased from history.
From Didi Herald, bookseller: This compelling historical novel taking place in two vastly different times and cultures is almost impossible to put down. Both Hatshepsut, and 3,000 years later, Lady Evelyn, are determined, courageous women who are more than willing to buck the society they are in for what they feel is important. It is the kind of historical fiction that makes one want to know more and care about the real life historical characters.
I have been unable to stop talking about this book when speaking to readers who like great historical fiction.
From Marya Johnston, owner: My daughter, who is an Egyptologist (inspired at age 8 by the mummies in the Denver Museum of Nature and Science), and I have had some long conversations about this book…about what is true and what is not. It seems Marie Benedict really did her homework, which is always a plus when one is reading historical fiction.
As the majority of this book is about Howard Carter and Lady Evelyn looking for Hatshepsut’s tomb, I can tell you that at some point in the 1920s, Carter, who discovered King Tut’s tomb, was truly the first to get to the bottom of the female pharaoh’s tomb, now known as KV20. Because the tomb goes for a mile underground and spirals, it has been considered too dangerous to further excavate. But Carter did find her sarcophagus, and granite statues of her wearing pharaoh’s regalia yet clearly a woman, are now at the Met Museum. Read this, then book your trip to Egypt!
Stay for a Spell
By Amy CoombeAce$30April 2026Purchase
From the publisher: During a routine royal visit to the town of Little Pepperidge, Tandy’s dream comes true when she finds herself cursed to remain in a rundown bookshop until she unlocks her heart’s desire. Certain that someone will figure out how to break the curse eventually, and delighted by the prospect of an entire bookstore of her own, Tandy settles into life among the stacks. She finds it easy to exchange balls and endless state dinners for teetering piles of books and an irritatingly handsome pirate who seems bent on stealing her stock.
She even starts to believe she’s stumbled into her very own happily ever after.
There’s just one, minor problem: as Tandy’s royal duties go unfulfilled, her frantic parents start sending princes to woo her, each one of them certain their kiss will break the curse.
From Didi Herald, bookseller: While I’m not a princess, at times in my life I’ve been so overscheduled I had to jealously guard my limited reading time. I’ve felt the despair of having finished a book, not having the next one at hand, and taking wild leaps to secure one. I can’t imagine any more enjoyable curse than being required to stay in a bookstore, especially one with a pleasant courtyard, a handsome pirate, a sweet tentacled pet, and a couple of enthusiastic helpers to spruce up the place.
This excursion into a cozy world where people, from teens who need a place to hang out to shoplifting pirates, try to help each other, is a lovely respite from our world of political upheaval and violence. I enjoyed spending time in this enthrallingly sweet tale — and, like Tandy, was in no hurry for the hex to be broken as she enjoys her new life but knows it is in peril if one the seven princes’ kiss works. And if it doesn’t, she fears frogs are in her future.
THIS WEEK’S BOOK RECS COME FROM:
Out West Books
533 Main St., Grand Junction
outwestbooks.co
Twitter Instagram FacebookAs part of The Colorado Sun’s literature section — SunLit — we’re featuring staff picks from book stores across the state. Read more.
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